According to the 2013 Mackinac Policy Conference, Michigan’s three largest universities (Michigan State, University of Michigan and Wayne State) are producing entrepreneurs at twice the national average. According to Michael Wayland, the report included:

…responses from more than 40,000 of the 1.2 million alumni of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. The responses revealed that more than 19 percent of the alumni surveyed have started a company, and some have created more than one.

The study suggests a significant number of alumni are starting their own businesses, and more than 50 percent of those businesses are here in Michigan, contributing to our state’s economic prosperity,” said URC [University Research Corridor] Executive Director Jeff Mason in a statement. “The URC is committed to supplying the tools that can lead to new companies and more jobs.”

The report also showed graduates of the three universities, which make up the URC, are 1.5 times as successful as the average U.S. business owner at keeping those start-ups and acquisitions alive in the past five years.

The entrepreneurial activity, according to the report, reached every state and more than 100 countries.

The report noted that more graduates are starting their own businesses at a younger age and that nearly 70% of businesses started in 2005 are still in business.

Elizabeth Charnock, the CEO of Cataphora, a computer software company, is a University of Michigan alum. Her business brings in $10-$20 million annually, and maintains offices in Michigan and California. Michael Vichich, a recent MSU grad, has just started a personal finance company that focuses on using mobile technology. His company, Glyph, already has ten employees and is only a year old.